License to Loan

To the editor: The Aug. 1 Metropolis story, “High Interest in the ’Burbs,” about payday loans in the less affluent towns and suburbs, really addresses a way to eliminate (or at least minimize) the payday disease. We need rezoning, aggressive city management, and council members who are willing to put teeth in their obligations to their constituents. We should enact a moratorium on any future openings of these establishments.

Of course no one twists anybody’s arm to do business with payday lenders. And some of the money that’s borrowed isn’t for paying bills but for entertainment purposes. Banks don’t cater to such needs.

Payday lenders are taking advantage of those who are not educated enough in finance. Many of the borrowers are minimum-wage workers. Hence they pay the piper.

Regulations are in order, but the market and demand for cash often circumvent good sense.

Yvonne Roth

Fort Worth

To the editor: The article by Sarah Angle on payday lenders provided an accurate description of these predatory loan sharks. Payday lenders are given loopholes by the legislature to circumvent usury laws, rather than outlawing them, particularly in poor areas. “Credit access businesses” (their new handle) is a euphemism for payday lenders, which are as addictive as drugs for the poor and less fortunate folks needing money to pay bills. So these vultures reign with impunity.

Yes, Haltom City has perfect-storm demographics for the payday loan industry, but give some credit to James Poliska, Haltom City’s director of planning and development. He and the city council have the industry under surveillance. Getting rid of dilapidated buildings and certain kinds of businesses is essential for the Belknap corridor’s development and road expansion. Haltom City needs ways to attract new businesses, not things that distract from the city’s good image. Maybe the most viable solution would be to revamp zoning restrictions to curtail these anti-economic institutions.

Delbert Cantrell

Fort Worth

Seeking Shelter

To the editor: The feature “Almost No Room at the Inn” (July 25, 2012) by Krista M. Torralva was an eye-opener. It illustrates the increase in domestic violence and the need for supplies and volunteers to assist battered women and their children. They are in desperate need of benefactors. The state legislature could alleviate these conditions (if they weren’t so self-serving) by allocating more funding to this vital program.

The wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the grease. In this case, shelters and their advocates need to get vociferous with officials and obtain the financial resources to operate these centers. Usually during an election year, legislators like to do good deeds for the publicity. The other option is for voters to jettison the incumbents who fail to commit to their constituents’ need for services.

Kathy Ream

Fort Worth

Cats Rescue

To the editor: I read your nice article on the Fort Worth Cats (“Stray Cats Doing Well After Rescue,” Aug. 1, 2012, by Jeff Prince) and had an idea. To help defray costs for the team and to improve service, would the ownership be amenable to “fan volunteers”?

These would be people like my son and me. We want to see the Cats succeed, and we could work, say, five games a year to help the team, at no charge. We could take tickets or act as ushers or whatever is needed. There aren’t that many games, and there are a number of fans who would love to volunteer. The idea might catch on with other fans, and they would follow suit. It would be a remarkable gesture on the fans’ behalf, something that other teams would hear about and might get going as well. The Cats could get some good PR from that. Perhaps attendance might be helped, as people would hear about this and come out to see what it’s all about. Since there would be extra volunteers, the service would improve. At the end of the season, the team could play the volunteers in a game on the field, free of charge to the fans. For working for free, perhaps the volunteers could get free general-admission tickets for another game or hot dogs or something.

It would be a feather in Fort Worth’s cap to have fans do this, and it might help the Cats in a time of need.

Since 1994, Fort Worth Weekly has provided a vibrant alternative to North Texas’ often-timid mainstream media outlets by offering incisive, irreverent reportage that keeps readers well informed and the powers-that-be worried.